Patrick Lefevere receives a special bike as a farewell gift from Soudal - Quick-Step: "I'll take care of it as long as I live"
Cycling
Patrick Lefevere founded Quickstep - Davitamon back in 2003 as a successor to iconic Italian formation Mapei. After more than 20 years spent as the head of the team now known as Soudal - Quick-Step, the Belgian stepped down from his position as CEO.
Over those years, the Belgian formation reached an iconic status at the classics. As a leader of either Mapei or Quickstep, Lefevere was part of no less than 13 victories at Paris-Roubaix, 11 triumphs at Tour of Flanders and stunning 195 Grand Tour stages.
During the 2025 team presentation, an emotional commpilation video of the biggest achievements under Lefevere's lead was projected and afterwards, Lefevere was presented with a custom Specialized bike - a tribute to Lefevere's contribution to the sport of cycling.
"It's the first bike I get from the team and probably the last. But it's the most beautiful bike ever. I'll take care of it as long as I live. Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen," said Lefevere, who received a standing ovation from the audience.
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- I doubt he and Remco will have much to argue over, they can both do their thing. All things considered, I doubt he’d have gotten a better deal. Maybe he’s the type that likes to stick with what he knows?Mistermaumau10-01-2025
- Whatever your feelings he brought success to the team and made the Belgians proud by succeeding in the classics.alsene10-01-2025
- I don't like him either. Makes sense that they'd give him oval wheels.Veganpotter10-01-2025
- She is the strongest and the strongest don't need no tactics. As soon as the road rises, she comes to the front and drops everybodyabstractengineer10-01-2025
- I feel like he is past his peakabstractengineer10-01-2025
- Its the curse of a French rider on a french teamabstractengineer10-01-2025
- This guy is making a very stupid decision. His agent should have brought him superior offers. He is going to play 2nd fiddle to Remco and then wonder why he isn't at the TDF or missing all GTs in a season.abstractengineer10-01-2025
- Hirschi and Alaphilippe on Cancellara's team, honestly sounds like a great choice if they manage to play the game the way Van der Poel did, a few years ago. They know where they need to be at the end of next year, in terms of points, so now it's just a question of being there. I'm not sure Alaphilippe will play the role he dreams of, and his jerky movements on the bike continue to annoy me, but I truly wish him and the team the best of luck in reaching their goal. It makes for better racing when teams like Tudor (he still refers to it as a "project," love that) are fighting to get into the World Tour.RidesHills09-01-2025
- Nice to see him with a sense of humor about the wins. That's actually a really good sign of how he's feeling, most of the time.RidesHills09-01-2025
- He’s good at messing up his WCs ;-)Mistermaumau09-01-2025